Perhaps the most horrifying birth is that of the spotted hyena. Females of this species give birth through a narrow, penis-like, enlarged clitoris. Their offspring emerge from this unusual birthing organ, almost indistinguishable from the male penis of the species, after 120 days of gestation.
Did you know the longest brooding period or 'pregnancy' of any known animal is a whopping four and a half years? If you think female African elephants have it tough with their 22-month gestation period, spare a thought for the deep-sea octopus Graneledone boreopacifica.
While most mammals also require a break between pregnancies, either to support new young or during periods of seasonal lack of resources, the female swamp wallaby is the only one that can claim the reproductive feat of being permanently pregnant throughout its life.
Virtually all human mothers experience pain in childbirth, and delivery takes much longer than in other mammals.
The aftermath of the root canal can affect your daily activities for a couple of days, make it difficult to eat, and require pain medication. Women who have needed root canal say it is worse than childbirth.
The most common description of the level of pain experienced was extreme menstrual cramps (45 percent), while 16 percent said it was like bad back pain and 15 percent compared it to a broken bone.
NORWAY LEMMING BABIES: 192
Norway lemmings start early. A female can get pregnant at just two weeks old.
The shortest known gestation is that of the Virginian opossum, about 12 days, and the longest that of the Indian elephant, about 22 months.
For some, of course, it's normal to only have one or a couple offspring in a lifetime. But swamp wallabies, small hopping marsupials found throughout eastern Australia, are far outside the norm: New research suggests that most adult females are always pregnant.
The spiny dogfish shark can carry young for about two years, while basking sharks can do so for as long as three years. The frilled shark can wait 3.5 years before giving birth.
Seahorses and their close relatives, sea dragons, are the only species in which the male gets pregnant and gives birth. Male seahorses and sea dragons get pregnant and bear young—a unique adaptation in the animal kingdom.
1. Brown antechinus. For two weeks every mating season, a male will mate as much as physically possible, sometimes having sex for up to 14 hours at a time, flitting from one female to the next.
Also knows as Platypus frogs, the female amphibian, after external fertilization by the male, would swallow its eggs, brood its young in its stomach and gave birth through its mouth.
All mammals give birth to young ones, except platypus and echidna as they are egg-laying mammals. Lizards, on the other hand, are oviparous i.e., they lay eggs and they don't give birth to young ones.
Vaquita. On the brink of extinction, the vaquita is the smallest living species of cetacean. The single rarest animal in the world is the vaquita (Phocoena sinus).
Elephant, 600 to 660 days. Giraffe, 420 to 450 days.
Some marine mammals, such as the bottlenose dolphin, carry their young for between 10 to 12 months, which means that calves can keep up with their mother from the get-go. On the other end of the spectrum, the animal with the shortest known gestational period is the Virginia opossum.
Slugs, starfish, and other creatures also switch gender when it works to their advantage. However, the cues that trigger the change vary from species to species.
Orangutans
The orangutan has the longest childhood dependence on the mother of any animal in the world (even more than elephants!) because there is so much for a young orangutan to learn in order to survive. The babies nurse until they are about six years of age.
Women can reproduce for about half of their lifetime and can only give birth about once every year or so. So it makes sense that women can only have a fraction as many children as men. One study estimated a woman can have around 15 pregnancies in a lifetime.
Does He Feel Pain? Doctors now know that newly born babies probably feel pain. But exactly how much they feel during labor and delivery is still debatable. "If you performed a medical procedure on a baby shortly after birth, she would certainly feel pain," says Christopher E.
Water birth is the process of laboring and/or giving birth in a tub of warm water. Many women find that sitting or floating in water during labor helps them relax and manage pain. Some women choose to give birth in the water. Others only labor in the tub.